My husband locked his keys in his Ford Focus ZX3. A mechanic shop happens to be across the street and one of the guys comes by to shimmy the door open for a cost of 50 bucks. He uses a plastic wedge. As the door pops open, the back side window shatters. The mechanic says “Oops, that has never happened before” and says my husband doesn’t have to pay him the 50 bucks. He also offers some duck tape. My husband drives home and tells me the story.
Who pays for the broken window?
The door window and the the back window are completely isolated from each other…Had he broke the door window, that would have been different…I suspect the details of this story are twisted or not complete…
Caddyman is right. There are too many missing details to give good advice. Let your insurance pay for it.
This is Alfhild’s husband. OK. The wedge was placed on the side of the door towards the back window. He then used a metal hook to open the door. As Alfhild wrote. When he was opening the door the window shattered.
The mechanic placed the wedge against the window that is now broken. I am not sure what other details to include. Even if this is a freak accident, who pays? It happened while the mechanic was working on the car.
I understand the wedge was inserted to open the door away from the sidebody/jamb. Not run channel to glass.
Contact your insurance carrier and ask the deductible for comprehensive. If it zero then…
If you have a monetary figure as kthe shop if they would be willing to pay or at least half it.
My vote is the owner pays to replace the window.
The mechanic learned a lesson, tell the owner that he isn’t responsible for damage in any attempt to get access to a locked car. The driver could see pressure was being used to force the door open, which means damage is possible - perhaps even likely. At that point the driver should say stop, or live with the results. The mechanic was trying to do something to help out the driver. A locksmith would be more qualified to open the car, or call AAA for a tow to a locksmith or body shop.
IMHO this one could be argued legally that the mechanic is responsible for any damage he causes while trying to repair the vehicle, however I also believe that common sense has to apply. Also, the mechanic could have charged the typical $100 minimum, then accepted responsibility for the new window…which probably would have cost $100. The mechanic was a neighbor and was trying ot help hubby at hubby’s request. A work order was never even filled out.
This one is a “wash”. Let it go, pay for the window replacement yourself, and stay friends with the neighbor, Someday you may need him for a REAL problem.
Oh, and buy hubby a spare key to keep in his change pocket. For many cars you can do this dirt cheap as the door can be unlocked without the chip so you can have a physical blank cut at the hardware store. I did that.
I see here that on the Focus 2 door hatchback, the quarter glass in mounted to the outside of the sheet metal and B-pillar. Making the leading edge GLASS, tween the door frame and wedge.
In other words , when you insert that wedge in this case, the inner side is resting against glass !
The break in man should have noticed this
BUT, in every case,
when any owner authorizes a break in , the owner accepts liability.
( sometines a door frame stays bent a bit, weatherstrips get torn, linkage comes loose etc. )
“The mechanic placed the wedge against the window that is now broken.”
That’s a little different than what was stated in the O.P. BUT, as Ken Green said, opening a car door by means other than the door key has risks that are solely the owners…
So “Who Pays?” You do…Next time, call a mobile locksmith instead of “one of the guys from across the street”…
@ Alfhild
I think the way the situation turned out the way it was handled was fair and reasonable all the way around.